It’s All Good (Even When It’s Rotten)

It’s February. The sun is out. Dressed in shorts and sandals, children are playing in the park under the watchful gaze of parents who sun themselves on chaise lounges or towels placed on the grass. Bicyclists ring their bells as they pass walkers on the trail. An ice cream vendor hawks his delicious confections nearby. This is how I imagine it anyway, this February so far away.

It’s all about perspective, you see, for this might be the picture in Sydney, Australia, but here, in the northern hemisphere, we’re up to our eyeballs in snow and ice. Our landscape is two colors: blackish-green and white. So much white.

Hooray for blue skies!

We wake up in the morning dreading the commute to work, the new snow to plow, and the extra ten minutes it takes to suit up in fifteen layers to go outside. Ah, wouldn’t it be lovely to just slip on some sandals and head outdoors?

But then we get another nine inches of snowfall in one night, and not surprisingly, we’re all a little miffed.

But is it all bad? Won’t this extra snow help provide a greener and safer summer when it’s our turn to play outside in shorts and sandals? As NASA and NOAA reported 2016 as the warmest year on record globally for the third year in a row since record keeping began in 1880 (all you global warming doubters may check this article and its related sources), it’s good we’re getting extra snow; we’ll likely need it. If the trend continues, summers will get warmer and water will be even more valuable. So, there’s the good side to this hellish, freezing white nightmare. 🙂

Hellish, freezing white nightmares can be quite beautiful! (This is not a black and white photo).

I believe everything happens for a reason and life is all about balance. In my mind, “good” and “bad” are based on perception and, very often, we are not privy to all perspectives.

For example, I’ve spent the past three days in the clutches of this season’s “make you wish you were dead” crud going around and, while it seems something I could easily label “bad,” I’m not going to. Perhaps being sick this weekend is helping me catch up on much needed rest, or it is the reason I’m able to finish this blog post. Perhaps it’s because of this weekend that I can better appreciate all the other weekends when I’m healthy. Do I enjoy feeling like my body is on the Tilt-a-Whirl of Aches, Pain, Coughing, and Snot? Of course not. But that old cliche is true: every cloud has a silver lining. Whether we can see it or not is another matter. It’s how we choose to see things that makes the greatest difference.

I’ve rambled on a bit here (I’m blaming the cold medicine). I just wanted to share a little optimism on this day. Life is good! It’s all good (even when it’s rotten). I hope you can see all the silver linings in your life and, remember, spring really isn’t that far away, and the snow won’t always be up to your eyeballs.

2 Responses to It’s All Good (Even When It’s Rotten)

Good perspective, Leanna. As much as I don’t like the snow – it does have great benefits for the land, trees, lakes and rivers. Those things that are so important to us lovers of nature. We will get through this and reap the benefits come this Spring and Summer. I’m grateful that I can walk to and from work. I’m grateful that I have a warm place to live. Overall, life is pretty good! And…there is really no sense complaining too much because we can’t do anything about the weather – there is no App for that – yet!
Gwen